Interview with Royi Benyossef

GDE and Ecosystem Relations Manager at Samsung NEXT TLV

Today we start the series of interviews with our speakers, and the first one we are happy to introduce is Royi Benyossef, GDE and Ecosystem Relations Manager at Samsung NEXT TLV.

Please, tell a bit about the work you do. How did you first get involved into this work?

I am part of the Google experts program for Android and have been since Dec 2012. This have been due to the 2 main pillars of my career; Android development and community since for as far as I’ve been programming in Android (about 2008) I have been active in the local community as an organiser and speaker which led me to the management of a multinational team of 45 engineers in Serbia, Israel, China and the Ukraine as well as to the stages of Google I/O, MWC, DroidCon, CodeMotion and a variety of other international conferences. At the moment I am an investor at Samsung NEXT; a semi strategic VC focusing on early stage software products and services startups as well as the ecosystem relations manager where I build and run free-for-all no-strings-attached programs for the ecosystem’s benefit.

What is the most challenging part of your work, and what is the most rewarding one?

Most challenging – time management and remaining up-to-date; as I don’t code for a living anymore I need to find my own projects. Most rewarding – meeting exciting new people and experimenting with exciting new technologies.

Do you have any advice for someone interested in pursuing the same career?

Plan and execute your own projects to build experience and a portfolio.

Do as much pro-bono as you have the time and money to do so; the more you contribute the more you will be paid back and in most cases it will be ten folds than what you put in.

Can you give us a sneak peek into your GDG DevFest Romania talk? Why did you choose this subject?

The talk originates in my work in my previous company. As the group leader and architect I designed the Android based STB and smart TV and was in charge on the app level development. The proprietary hardware and unique features led to unique difficulties and a very different perspective on how Android works when you push it to the edge which brought a long a nice expertise in graphics and UX management in Android.

In your opinion, what are the benefits of attending events like GDG DevFest Romania?

Inspiration. Sessions such as in DevFest for me are places to discover new terms and perspectives to google in order to try it in my own projects. That and the great people.